A special memorial held at a cemetery on the coast of Maine pays tribute to a forgotten hero from the Battle of Plattsburgh. Historian Ron Romano, who helped uncover Dr. John Briggs’ incredible story of heroism and valor in the Battle of Plattsburgh.
Memorial services will be held this coming week at Riverside Cemetery and on Crab Island in Plattsburgh where American and British sailors and soldiers are buried side-by-side, casualties of the battles that took place on and around Lake Champlain in September of 1814 following the invasion of nearly 15-thousand British troops who had crossed into New York from Quebec.
The names of those who fought in the battles are memorialized in stone on both Crab Island and Riverside Cemetery.
In the summer of 2021, for the very first time, a memorial was also held hundreds of miles from where the historic battle took place, on the coast of Maine, in an old cemetery on a hilltop in the City of Portland, where a young doctor who served as the ship’s doctor and surgeon onboard the flagship Saratoga, was given a War of 1812 medallion on his grave, and long overdue recognition for coming to the aid of the dozens of sailors who were gravely wounded by the cannon fire that exploded around them for hours on September 11, 1814 on Lake Champlain’s Cumberland Bay. After 207 years, Dr. John Briggs finally received the military honors his descendants and historians believe he deserves for his valor during the Battle of Plattsburgh.
You can watch more of our interview with historian & author Ron Romano and hear about some of the books he’s written on the many notable people who are buried in the Eastern Cemetery in Portland, Maine. You can also read the research paper Ron Romano wrote on Dr. John Perkins Briggs, including passages from the journal Briggs kept that describe in graphic detail the Battle of Plattsburgh.
Ron Romano Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPaRJIHPmqo
Journal Passages of Dr. Briggs: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kfaje_pQ_EgQkNaK-osFUfIBtZDnoGRq/view